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Portlandia reruns "Brunch Special" with organic and cage free satire

Here in the Portland area, both locals and visitors really enjoy local restaurant “Brunch Specials” that’s also the subject for IFC’s “Portlandia” TV show that reruns its own Brunch Special this Friday.

While “Portlandia’s” new season is currently being filmed in the Portland area, fans of this cult TV show can tune to the IFC network on Friday, July 20, to watch the hilarious “Brunch Special” that airs at 11/10 c with lots of cool extras that make this visit with the show’s stars and creators Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein that much more special. For instance, this “Portlandia” TV show is a “funhouse mirror reflection of Portland, with satire that is fresh, organic and cage-free,” stated the award citation for Portlandia winning the 2012 annual “Peabody Award” for excellence in television. Thus, the reward for creating a very interesting and even bizarre TV show about Portland had IFC recently announcing a third season of the program will return during the winter season. For fans not familiar with Portland, the name “Portlandia” refers to the statue of the same name that hangs above the door to the Portland Building on Fifth Avenue in downtown Portland; while this sculpture also appears in the show’s title sequence.

Portlandia stars Fred Armisen of Saturday Night Live fame, and Carrie Browstein who is lead guitarist and singer for the band “Wild Flag.”

Also, fans of "Portlandia" say they enjoy how "Fred and Carrie showcase some of the more interesting spots around Portland; while local travel agencies are now marketing the tourism and recreation highlights of the show that spotlights all those "back door" spots in Portland that only locals really know about.

Why a show about brunch?

Quirky has come to be “Portlandia’s” middle name with Friday’s airing on the IFC network of the show’s “Brunch Special” really “summing up what this crazy, kooky and marvelous show is all about,” says fan Lucy Korey during a recent Huliq interview; while Korey also points out that she “really got hungry watching the Brunch Special because I love fresh marionberry pancakes.”

While Portlandia’s Bruch Special features Fred and Carrie checking out a new Portland brunch spot – dubbed “Fisherman’s Porch” – this is pure satire of all those brunch joints that Americans love because they can “eat both breakfast and lunch at the same time,” adds Korey with a big smile.

In turn, the “Brunch Special” also offers what the show’s producers call a “never-before-seen look into the making of Season’s 2’s finale, ‘Brunch Village;” while also featuring a very cool guest appearance by the Oscar-winning actor Tim Robbins as a “typical strange Portland local.”

However, the humor of this Bruch Special is simply watching Fred and Carrie stand in a long line for brunch; while encountering funny Portland folk and just chatting about nothing in the same way as the “Seinfeld” television sitcom did, with friends simply hanging out together and musing about their lives.

Moreover, Portlandia’s director Jonathan Krisel told local media in Portland that this special was a personal quest for him to find the best marionberry pancakes on the planet; since Portland is known for its organic and fresh marionberrys that are a key ingredient in local pancakes the size of dinner plates, and MMM good!

Fred Armisen goes from playing “cool” Obama to strange dude

Fred Armisen, 45, is a wonder.

Armisen calls himself a comedian, musician and actor; and is best known for his work as a longtime cast member on “Saturday Night Live,” portraying, among a long list of characters, President Obama in what’s now become famous as the “cool sketches” with Armisen not only looking and speaking like the president, but also acting just as cool as Barack Obama in his comedy routines.

Along with close friend and co-creator Carrie Brownstein, Armisen and the show’s other producers have made TV history with this cult TV “Portlandia” on IFC; while it not only won a coveted Peabody Award during the first season of the show, but is also making locals in Portland very happy.

“It’s delightful, fresh and always funny,” says a local Portland artist named “Hugo,” who says what’s even cooler is “running into Carrie and Fred at local music venues or donut shops. They really live around town, and now are Oregonians too. You can’t say that about other Hollywood types who just cruse in to make the bucks and then run back to the Hills or New York. They’re both the genuine article and that comes through on the show,” adds Hugo while making a quirky keening wail in the same way as locals do when caught on the Portlandia TV show.

In addition to Armisen and Brownstein – who appear in various roles in Portlandia – other guest stars have included Selma Blair, Steve Buscemi, Aimee Mann, Sarah McLachlan, Heather Graham, Jason Sudeikis, the famed Portland director Gus Van Sant, Kyle MacLachlan and even the mayor of Portland Sam Adams.

Portlandia is also a TV show about nothing

For those who’ve not yet watched “Portlandia,” here’s why it’s a show about "nothing" but human relationships:

-- In episode 37, Maggie arrives home from London to find the apartment empty. Ted is at the park trying to break it off with Ashley. Dia and Zoe go on a picnic together. Maggie expresses an interest to Ben in modeling for the site.

-- In episode 36, Ted wakes up with Ashley in his bed and ignores a phone call from Maggie. Ben makes breakfast in bed for Zoe. Ben tells Dia and Kelly that he's really excited about Zoe and they make a plan to all hang out together.

-- In episode 35, Karl and Maggie use video chat to keep their sexual relationship alive. Dia and Kelly return home. Noah and Owen discuss moving in together. Ted's flirtation with his yoga student Ashley moves to the next level.

-- In episode 33, Dia and Kelly are honeymooning at a beach resort. Ben and Natalie have broken up, but are working together on a website. Ted's new yoga student’s flirts with him after class.

-- In episode 34, Ben flirts with Zoe, one of the models for the website, and he finally works up the nerve to ask her on a date. Ted video chats with Maggie, who is in London. Dia and Kelly are enjoying the last days of their honeymoon.

While each episode only runs about 22 minutes, fans say it “seems to go by quicker than that because the writing and acting is so spot on good.”

What’s Fred’s real life status?

Fans who approach the overly friendly but somewhat strange Fred Armisen in real life are careful, say Hugo, “to not mention his ex, Elisabeth Moss” from TV’s “Mad Men.”

The couple married in October 2009, and divorced just a year later.

More recently Armisen said he was dating fellow “Saturday Night Live” cast member Abby Elliott, but that relationship ended late last year after Armisen moved to Portland, Oregon, so he could be closer to friends who help him produce his hit TV show “Portlandia.”

Image source of Fred Armisen performing at a music venue; while locals in Portland, Oregon, say Fred has been spotted this week at some of the trendier music hot spots in the city where Armisen is now filing the third season of the hit IFC TV show “Portlandia.” Photo courtesy Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Armisen